Counting Crows, Maroon 5 prove winning pair

The pairing of the Counting Crows and Maroon 5 looked iffy on paper, but it turned out to be a winner on Thursday night at the Sleep Train Pavilion.

Sure, both bands specialize in delivering radio-friendly pop-rock hits. Yet thatâ€™s where the similarities end. The Crows are a real rock band, one that is always re-working its material in concert and trying to find new ways to express itself. Maroon 5 is a polished soul-pop troupe that is at its best when merely playing the hits like they sound on the records.

Fortunately, those differing approaches proved to be quite complementary in Concord.

The two multi-platinum bands switch the order of the bill with each stop on this co-headlining tour, which is most likely an effort to not damage any rock-star-sized egos. The Crows reportedly got the late set on Wednesday at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, while Maroon 5 went on last at Sleep Train.

The earlier set time wasnâ€™t the only change the Crows made on Thursday.

â€œLast night, we played a pretty big rock set,â€ said vocalist Adam Duritz, a former UC Berkeley student who was decked out in Cal gear at the concert. â€œSo, we are going to try something different tonight: We are going to play a pretty set.â€

Staying true to his word, the 44-year-old singer quickly led his East Bay-born band through gorgeous acoustic versions of â€œWhen I Dream of Michelangeloâ€ (from the groupâ€™s fifth and latest CD, 2008â€™s â€œSaturday Nights & Sunday Morningsâ€), the big hit â€œMr. Jonesâ€ and â€œRichard Manuel is Dead.â€

In this softer setting, Duritz was really able to shine. His voice was soulful, passionate and full of heart. He made you believe each lyric like it was a line in his diary _ which, indeed, might be the case.

The music felt raw, full of just the right amount of rough edges, and it was performed like it still means something to the band members. Most would agree that the Crowsâ€™ finest moment in the studio came with its first record, 1993â€™s â€œAugust and Everything After,â€ but anybody who has consistently watched the group over the past 15 years should realize that itâ€™s a better live act now than ever before.

Although the Crows are the more accomplished of the two bands, and possibly on track to someday be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Maroon 5 was clearly the main draw for many in the 9,000-plus crowd. That made sense, given how big Maroon 5â€™s presence has been on the charts in recent years.

The group, led by heartthrob vocalist Adam Levine, didnâ€™t make fans wait for the good stuff. Maroon 5 _ which, true to its name, has five members _ opened the nightcap with the extremely catchy â€œThis Love,â€ a tune that might still be stuck in some concert-goersâ€™ heads today. That number, like so many others performed in the set, sounded as perfectly polished in concert as it does on the record.

At past Maroon 5 shows, Iâ€™ve criticized the bandâ€™s soul-pop sound as being too bland, like something you might hear on â€œAmerican Idol.â€ Yet, there was something different about this night. It wasnâ€™t so much the bandâ€™s performance, which was pretty close to what it delivered back in November at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, as it was the juxtaposition.

Maroon 5â€™s glossy, smooth take on pop turned out to be just the right counterpoint to the soulful, spontaneous approach offered up the Counting Crows. In the end, both bands benefitted from each otherâ€™s presence. The fans, however, were the ones that benefitted the most.